’tis ok. I will return these and wait for the right thing to come back.

in the mean time I can ‘borrow’ my other chainset with a hope fat/thin chainring on there..

boo. no new bike riding for me this weekend then.. cheers!

The thing is.. I can’t see how anyone can possibly tell the difference between a 320mp3 and the original lossless file.. (assuming the mp3 was created from the lossless file in question…)

I wanted to believe that lossless or HD audio etc was way better. but it just isn’t.

Of course, a better DAC, better hifi, better speakers, better headphones etc will make a difference.

The main culprit is the low quality laptop speakers, £5 headphones etc.

I wrote this about the subject.

And then – collecting music isn’t all about the quality of a CD or Record vs the download – it’s about owning these items, having them on the shelves, reading the sleeve notes whilst you’re listening. But spending extra $$ on Wavs, or HD Flacs is just a waste of money IMO.

Paid up spotify premium subscriber here. CDs all in boxes in the cellar.

Like the others have said.. if you don’t want to do much pedalling or much looking at ign maps then the PdS is great.

There are far better places to ride if you are prepared to pedal + look at ign maps + have a quiet time in the evenings.

Rode a couple of days in Meribel this summer, and a few in Valloire – some really top stuff in both places. Meribel has a few lifts, and a bus from Brides les Bains up to resort that takes bikes. Courchevel the same. Think the 3 valleys link up the lift system on some days of the week. No lifts or busses on saturdays (obviously.. why would you open on Saturdays?.. )

TBH most places outside of the PdS have funky lift opening hours, close at lunch, and generally lack in the whole resort to resort lift infrastructure that the PdS has.. But that’s what makes it popular, and what makes the quieter resorts more appealing for me at least (having just left Morzine after 8 years living there)

Merci!

my solution: give up..

seriously – I gave up to go for a ride – put the syringes away and put the bleed screws back on – pressed the lever in a vein attempt to get it to work and it just popped up.

guess it doesn’t work when there’s a syringe attached.. too many beers last night

good riding around Digne Les Bains. ANd if you can manage it, it’s only a bit further to get to Val d’Allos.. where there is more ace riding than you can shake a stick at – all worth the climbs.

I like mine so much, my next bike is very likely to be another sb66

I live and ride in the alps, lifts or not, mines probably had a tougher life than most, but no play or bearing issues. Might be an idea to get in touch with yeti to see if there was a specific batch that was dodgy… They probably won’t say though!

And I bet there’s not a single high end bike that hasn’t had someone break it at some point.

Run mine with a marz 44 rc3 ti fork.

Obviously it’d void your warranty – but should be OK – just speak to a framebuilder to figure out where you can drill a hole in with out much worry –

Marz 55 RC3 evo Ti.

Maintenance free. 3 year warranty. So smooth you’ll want to find some extra roots and rocks to ride over all the time.

Or 44s are a touch lighter – but hard to come by now.

I have the 44s on my SB66 and absolutely love them.

Fair enough I’d say. How annoying is it when you stand there invisible to the shop staff when they’re busy talking to each other or on the phone ignoring you’re even there.

It’s something we get a lot here in France – (my personal experience, not saying all french are rude!). I like to make a point of saying a big happy “Bonjour!” when they do that – sometimes they stop their chat. But you do sometimes get made to feel like an inconvenience when turning up giving them something do to. Especially public sector workers.

swiss topos are online – http://map.geo.admin.ch/%5B/url%5D

There’s about 4 or 5 routes that I know of to get down to the Rhone valley – get to Monthey and then you can get the train back to Champery and you’re back in the PdS lift pass area.

Also managed to ride to Lac Leman last summer: Morzine > Chatel > Morclan > Lac d’Arvouin > Col de Verne > Lac de Tanay > Le Bouveret.

And a very good overnighter can be had if you ride down to Monthey, across the valley to Bex, then get the train up to Gryon – ride up about 600m to refuge Giocomini[/url]

Next day you get a top drawer descent back to Monthey -> train to Champery -> home by Lunch time.

Your argument might work better if you picked things where there really is no noticeable difference in performance.

OK – perhaps a bit extreme.

Oversized stem / bars – how’s that?

QR vs bolt thru rear ?

Syntace 142 rear vs 135 bold tru?

What would you like them to do? Sit on these marginal improvements because they don’t think people will really notice? Some sort of co-op with a panel of judges deciding if the general consumer will benefit from this enhancement or that. But then some people can notice the difference between 15mm and 20mm – do those people get to buy it – perhaps they need to pass a test? I’d really like to know what the other option is!

Fact is that they aren’t holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy the new stuff. If people don’t want them, they won’t buy them.

All it shows is that if you want a new complete bike, 650 is worth considering what you will increasingly be forced to buy because the industry has decided en mass that 26″ is dead, even though there’s a small no real increase in performance.

Yep – just like they force you to buy bikes with disc brakes. what arse holes.

In the past the week long lift pass has covered a days riding at 2 Alpes..

not sure about this year.

I think honourablegeorge is bang on..

I really don’t understand all the p**sing and moaning about this 650b thing. There’s acres of discussion over the suspension performance of this fork or that fork. A new fork comes out that’s un-quantifiably better than the last and everyone’s happy – but a new wheel size? oh no. it’s “marketing bollocks”.

Disc brakes were overkill – marketing man selling you stuff you don’t need
suspension was overkill – marketing man selling you stuff you don’t need
10spd was overkill – marketing man selling you stuff you don’t need
etc etc

All pretty handy things now. And people, in general, want stuff they don’t really need. Companies, in general, want to sell stuff.

If this wasn’t the way, we’d all be riding around on the MTB equivalant of this:

Now, ridgid singlespeeders aside, no one wants that.

the english version is just a google translated thing. Wonder what a more tonic track is!

hmmm – I can’t quite work out if the race will still start up top or not.. I think it will – the first paragraph says it will offer the longest and most beautiful start to the race on the glacier..

The start of the quali is in a different place though – you have to ride down some snow from the lift to get there. And there are more overtaking spots..

Who knows!

I had one. And yes – it was bloody thirsty! But pulls a trailer like it’s not even there.. A fun vehicle for sure..

but I sold it and got a T5 instead – much more like it – was like having a second garage..

snow around morzine above 1600m on the north facing stuff – top of Chatel bike park for instance isn’t open.. they may get the shovels out before the weekend…

Col du cou is definately not clearable – but I think you could get up with a bit of shoving over the snow. Morzine side is clear.

but never has one ( two ?) sole been quite as likely to cause a tooth / bar interface

haha – yep – those and any trainer style shoe – terrible!

Indeed it was – currently planning the next Alpe d’Huez hike a bike adventure.

Your Velcro + Snow hike comment reminded me of this episode in Val d’Allos:

[/url]
PA250044[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

Cold feet!

ASR-5 – superbike.

I happen to have a size Small one for sale if you’re interested 🙂 Am asking €2,000 / £1,700

XT mechs + chainset, XTR shifters and brakes, Fulcrum wheels, Reverb etc. 1 year old.

Selling as it’s my wife’s – who now works for Lapierre – gotta go!

I’m with you there on the bike first – hike second thing 🙂 And yes I know what you mean about velcro + snow! Perhaps the new Mavic Crossmax shoes are worth waiting for…

This was all done with my Mavic Singletrack shoes – no issues with them at all (Apart from the fact they’re not made anymore!)

A bit of this

[/url]
Untitled[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

And a bit of that

[/url]
Untitled[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

Equals a lot of the other 😉

[/url]
Untitled[/url] by guybowden[/url], on Flickr

Cheers for the input.

What are the Tempo’s sole’s like – they look a bit more shiny plastic vs the contra grip on the Chasm or my Switchbacks.

The other option is the Alpine XL – I just wish they didn’t come in that storm trooper white 🙂

Saturday + Sunday – rode around Chatel looking for trails to show off the new Lapierres to the journos coming for the launch week 😉

With Sara (mrs Flowmtbguy and now Lapierre PR person) constantly telling me how great the new bikes are 🙂

Like I need to be told!

I suspect the decent to Samoens will be snow free as well – the Col du Cou most likely won’t be – but riding it from Morzine and back should be OK – the swiss side less so.

and any dreams of riding the GR5 past lac vert…well, skis would be more suited still.

Plus you can get a nice Sora mech for less than £15! So even if they wear out 8 times quicker than a saint, you’re still quids in!

not so good for the environment though… hmm

I think it comes down to this: an MTB rear mech will last longer so long as you don’t smash it on a rock or otherwise get it wrapped around your cassette with a dodgy overshift.

So if you’re prone to breaking rear mechs rather than wearing them out, then a cheapo road mech is fine.

A saint rear mech will handle the beating that just being attached to a bike will give it much better than a tiagra.

both will die equally if smashed into rocks.

ha. So Kiwijohn could have saved this whole thread with that single answer – i.e. yes, it should go down further…

No idea if the reverb went down further – I never had to try it out.. I’m guessing not though!

Yeah – I was hoping this great forum might have someone who could confirm or not quickly.. rather than criticise my riding style 😉 (what was I thinking…)

The toptube on a large SB66 joins the seattube about 15cm down – otherwise, yes that would be pretty ridiculous! I only ask really as the amount of drop I can get now isn’t too dissimilar to a bike with an interrupted seattube..

Mines a bit like this one:

Well I aspire to your skill sir. Meanwhile in the real world with dropper posts and quick releases (obviously both a waste of time and money for you), we drop the post to get down steep terrain without a saddle trying to buck you off.

I’ll wait until a mere mortal can help with my question…

Well aren’t you just amazing.

I live in the Alps – an Orange Patriot for when the lifts are open, and a Yeti SB66 with Marz44s for everything else. But to be honest, I’d like something a bit lighter than the 66 as when the lifts are shut, the hills take a lot of time to climb 🙂 Some faster rolling tyres are on their way to ease that particular pain.

Chamonix on Saturday, then the final day of lifts in Morzine/Les Gets Sunday…

packing up the bike shop today 🙁

I have discs as well 🙂 – cheers for the tips. Think the front ones are the worse off, so can do that whilst waiting for the tool for the rears…

My 2012 Patriot is about 32-33 lbs with Van180 forks, 1×9, CCDB coil shock – thompson post+stem. Formula RX brakes.

The main weight savings are in the Easton Havoc wheelset and a set of Minion EXO tyres set up tubeless. Still got 2.5 tyres, and big hit performance, but not a lot of weight 🙂

Tried it with a Float RP23 shock, so lost a fair bit more, but was a bit of a trapdoor feeling – shock was off an alpine 160, so likely needed a different tune to handle the extra leverage.

My Five is now pushing 30lbs – just got a Marz 44RC3 ti fork on there – first ride about to commence this PM..

Right – having just checked the actual roll size and postage + packaging costs, I can do 30cm by 1m for £30 – and yes, that’s 30 centimeters by 1 meter

send me a mail if you want some – guy@toricomorzine.com